Doctor J

It really depends on the preamp you choose and whether the control cavity is big enough to house a 9v battery. If not, there are always external preamps you can use, such as the Sadwosky.

From 1994 here's some Old Scratch, basically we improvised pretty much everything except the song titles, which got progressively more awkward to make things hard for our vocalist reading set-lists at gigs. With that in mind, I present [url="http://oldscratch.justinmaloney.com/sounds/940321_2.mp3"]Mystical Wizard Of The Unknown Information Transformation Formation Proves His Point Yet Again[/url] We honestly thought we were visionaries at the time and even got that played on national radio a few times From more recent times, a music forum over here was having a theme-based song thang, the theme being Superheroes, so I recorded all of this in my sitting room, even the drums [url="http://www.justinmaloney.com/awwjo/clot1hawk.mp3"]The Hawk[/url]

Yup, managed to get my old DATs transferred a few years back, heard that many of them weren't lasting too long.

This, I like. Very tasteful.

Very nice. I see a gap though, you've three bursts, no solid colours. I'm afraid you're going to have to buy another bass to rectify that.

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='1290957' date='Jul 3 2011, 01:07 PM']It sounds like test card music[/quote] This is the music ITV used to play back in the 90's during the night when they ran out of adverts

[quote name='chris_b' post='1290920' date='Jul 3 2011, 12:24 PM']About trouble shooting: Has anyone had the, "My computer's not working" complaint? Then there's a big silence when you ask, "Is it plugged in?"[/quote] I have asked that question more than once and with good cause

Ah yes, I thought they looked like Iommi's alright, very cool.

Does it happen on both pickups or just one?

That's fantastic, Andy, thanks for posting.

P90s and Teles really work together, nice colour too. Next up from me, Tokai ES130

What are the humbuckers in the Tele and SG?

Nice. I dig these basses a lot.

Nice. You've just re-awakened my L2000 GAS. I hope you're proud of yourself.

Bah humbug to no pics!

I used to have a 55-02 which tore through batteries, it was only as I sold it that I realised it was wired incorrectly - that the battery was to soldered to the circuit instead of the jack, so it was always on, even when not plugged in.

That blue one means business alright, very nice.

Thank you both kindly, it's got the nicest neck of any guitar I've ever played. Of course, I now have to ask, what's number one?

Took some better pics of some of the crew. Tele for starters

Big improvement, although single ply black would be a smidge nicer again, but that is cool as is for sure.

That is one of the most awesome things I have ever seen. I assume this was designed for Billy Gibbons somewhere up the chain?

The question is this - has it always sounded good? You've had it for 30 years, has it improved noticably between now and when you first got it?

[quote name='PauBass' post='1282817' date='Jun 26 2011, 09:57 AM']For those who think that wood has no effect on the bass sound, listen to a Warwick bass and you'll see how it really affects the tone.[/quote] So an ash bodied, maple necked Warwick Streamer will sound the similar to an ash bodied, maple necked Fender? Personally, I'd say the bell brass frets and active electronics play a more sizable part in shaping the tone than the wood in that example, but it's all personal interpretation. Unless they can prove mojo in a lab, if they can measure it, prove that this wood is more resonant and musical than that wood because of a certain facet, then it's all in the ear of the beholder. Wood isn't the same, two pieces of ash can sound different. Two pieces of old ash can sound different. A new piece of ash and an old piece of ash can sound similar. There's so much myth and magic bandied around, - better wood in the old days? Fender used pretty cheap standard lumber, they've never been ones for hand selected magic tone wood outside of the recent custom shop. What about all those pieces of crap (Kay, Hofner, Eko, etc etc etc) made from the same era and quality of wood, do they also sound magic now? Of course not. Fender used cheap labour too, it wasn't a team of highly skilled ninja luthiers painstakingly handcrafting the finest musical instruments since Stradivarius, it was cheap labour employed in the production processes of the time who were largely unskilled. Fender had some genius designs which have stood the test of time, that's the strength and, yes, pretty much everything else is an imitation of the original and, in my humble opinion, there's your attraction. You expect an old instrument to sound better, just because. It's a rare artifact of a bygone era, a piece of history in your hands and, quite often, looked at with rose coloured lenses. Contrast that to modern instrument manufacture, cnc precision bodies and necks may be more consistant but where's the love? Where's the mojo in a perfectly wound pickup? How can it have magic if it's exactly the same as the previous one? The sometimes haphazard manufacture of vintage gear allows us to believe there's something special about this one that the next one doesn't have. There seems to be a 30 year point, which is when an instrument is officially vintage I believe, where it also becomes strangely desirable. See how early 80's basses are now shooting up in price compared to just a couple of years ago. They're not any better, they're just more desirable. Maybe it's a thing where a player is playing an instrument older than they are, there's some kind of lure in that, I don't know. I, too, used to own a 77 Jazz and the build quality was just shocking. Not a Friday afternoon jobbie, the cheap hardware, the standard of routing, just poor. If you came across that in a modern Mexican Fender you'd send it back but because it's so old it's past the point of being crap, now it's called mojo. I recall seeing a late 50's P bass, beautiful looking, but the neck pocket was so wide the neck wasn't mounted straight to the extent that the G string was literally hanging off the side of the neck, utterly unplayable, but lusted after on talkbass by pretty much everyone despite the serious manufacture flaw. Somehow the age was enough for everyone to overlook the quite obvious lack of quality control. I believe it sold for almot 10 grand. Of couse, I'm not saying old is bad, just saying old doesn't mean good by default either. Clearly, they were capable of getting it right too. Personally, I believe the best instruments ever made will be made this year. Next year, they'll get better again, but of course it depends how you define better. This year, there are already fantastic luthiers adding yet another year of experience to their skillset. These days there are luthiers actively seeking special pieces of wood, rather than just buying in bulk. There are a myriad of specialised parts manufacturers who've dedicated years of their lives to understanding the subtleties of pickups and electronics, they've studied the pioneering work of Gibson and Fender and they're standing on the shoulders of giants so to speak. They're building one-off instruments to be the very best they can be, rather than the embryonic stages of a mass produced item built to a competitive price point. I don't expect humans to get worse at something with experience, but seemingly some believe this can be the case with instruments, that despite all the experience and knowledge now pooled that mankind has somehow forgotten something about building electric guitars and basses. I don't subscribe to that at all. When you click with an instrument, it's a wonderful thing. My ESP J bass has seen off a number of Fenders, Sadowsky, Lakland and other J designs. It's almost 25 years old now, but the thing is, it was a great instrument back when I got it almost 20 years ago and I think that's the important bit. It hasn't changed that much, other than it's aged a bit and looks a bit battered now. It hasn't gotten better though, that I know of, it just works for me in the same way it did back when I first got it. I remember thinking it was a bit special at the time. I've no doubt the Sadowsky was built to a higher standard with a higher quality of hardware, but the ESP does the J thing the way I want the J thing done. The Fenders, despite being [i]the real thing[/i], never sounded or felt as good no matter how much time I spent setting them up, whether they were newer or older than the ESP. Back then it was just another Japanese import. Being old doesn't make it better than the others or better than it used to be, being my idea of a great bass since I first played it makes it better than the others. I think I ought to stop now

[quote name='RichF' post='1281337' date='Jun 24 2011, 06:20 PM']richer than us all put together and multiplied by 1000. Shagged more hot women than any of us thought existed. Fellow bass player. Comes across as a decent guy. All the rest is petty jealousy. (No big U2 fan BTW)[/quote] [quote name='owen' post='1281366' date='Jun 24 2011, 06:53 PM']Plays for the song. Leaves space. Lays it down. When the time is right less is more. In U2 that is what works. Stellar gratuitous technique or a musician working in a band context? I know which one I prefer.[/quote] This. I don't understand the vitriol. He just gets on with it, clearly doesn't take himself too seriously, and is living the dream. Fair play to him.

Nice! I like that Ibanez a lot.